Here are some tips for how to answer both styles of self-introduction.

"Walk me through your resume." (WMTYR)

Some interviewers start the conversation by saying, "Walk me through your resume." Others say, "Please summarize your professional life since graduating from university."

The best strategy for this type of self-introduction question is to show each period of your career as a choice. For example, "I joined my company because I wanted to work in an international setting and believed that the ABC industry would provide me with the best chances to use my XYZ skills. I joined the Finance Department in order to learn accounting and profit-based decision-making. Later, I moved to (another department) in order to learn (another set of skills)...."

Try creating an (invisible) "why" column on your resume. Show your motivation for each choice.

What skill/knowledge did you hope to gain by choosing your university major?

What interested you in your industry?

Why did you choose your particular company?

What skill did you hope to acquire in your first / second / current position?

You might also want to create a macro analysis / summary of your career to date. For example, " I have worked in two different functions. First, I learned sales skills since I knew they would be useful in any business situation. After earning the top sales award in 2007, I was promoted to my current position in corporate planning."

VINCE'S NOTE: Clients have asked me if you should give this answer in chronological order. Absolutely! In other words, if your resume lists professional experience above educational experience (as I suggest) you are actually walking your interviewer UP your resume from college graduation up to your current position.

Another common way for an interviewer to start the conversation (after small-talk / ice-breakers) is to say, "Tell me about yourself". In this case, your interview wants you to present a quick summary of your professional and personal achievements and interests.

Vince's TEMPLATE

Professionally, I…

One macro sentence (# of years / functions / skills)

One recent accomplishment or highlight, such as being awarded company sponsorship or completing an important project

Personally, I…(list 2 to 3 interests)

1st hobby / interest (perhaps showing how you use your "mind", such as studying history, a science, or third language)

2nd hobby / interest (perhaps showing how you use your "body", such as sports)

3rd hobby / interest (perhaps showing how you use your "spirit", such as the music, visual arts, or cultural activities)

VINCE'S NOTE: Some clients ask if you should only mention current / ongoing interest. Not necessarily. I personally would talk about music even though I am not currently in a band. I enjoy strumming my guitar to make my son laugh. And I certainly take every opportunity to listen to live and recorded music. Most of all, some of my best lifelong friends are those I have made through music. So I would mention it as my first personal interest.

Goals

Interviewers often inquire about your future career plans by asking one or more of the following questions:

What is your ideal post-MBA position and why?

What are your (short and/or long-term) goals? (Strategy: practice answering if asked in general about your goals w/o the interviewer specifying short or long-term)

Why do you need an MBA? (Strategy: give three reasons, balancing hard and soft skills)

They also ask, "Why now?"

You need to directly answer this question, but your answer can be short (two sentences). Think about:

Internal factors (pushing you to get an MBA now): I have mastered certain technical, analytical and/or interpersonal skills; I am now ready to develop my skills and knowledge in new (specific) areas as stated above

External factors (pulling you to get an MBA now): what makes this the ideal market timing for implementing your great business idea after you earn your MBA from “School X”; try to address existing markets poised for rapid growth or change

Vince's "Why Now" Template for interviews

Because I want to achieve [ONE SENTENCE GOAL], I need to build my existing skills [A] and [B] by learning new skills [C] and [D]

Externally, now is a good time for me to capture [MARKET OPPORTUNITY X] and also prepare to handle [EXTERNAL THREAT Y]

HINT - if your interview is an American emphasize opportunities to show your hope; if your interviewer is Japanese, emphasize threats to show your practical side

In additional to asking future focused questions, your interviewer often wants to learn more about your leadership and teamwork experience. Questions about the past are often referred to as "behavioral" because they relate to what you thought, felt, said, and did in a particular situation. Some schools like MIT have emphasized behavioral questions for years in both their essays and interviews. Other schools like Wharton have recently (2010-2011) changed their interview methods to include mostly (or in some cases exclusively) behavioral questions.

What is BEI?

In the 1980’s, industrial psychologist Dr. Tom Janz introduced a method of interviewing called the “Behavioral Interview.” Research shows that this interviewing style is extremely effective, and MBA adcoms have started using it in interviews as well as essay questions, first at MIT and now, to a lesser extent, Wharton, Stanford, and other programs (depending on the interviewer).

Why do adcoms (and some alumni) use BEI?

The premise is that the best predictor of future behavior is your past behavior. In a behavioral interview you will have to demonstrate your knowledge, skills, and abilities, collectively known as competencies, by giving specific examples from your past experiences. Instead of asking how you would behave in a particular situation, the interviewer will ask you to describe how you did behave. Expect the interviewer to question and probe you for more details about what you thought, felt, said and did. Also, your interviewer will not allow you to theorize or generalize about several events.

How can you prepare for a Behavioral Event-Based Interview?

During a behavioral interview, always listen carefully to the question, ask for clarification if necessary, and make sure you answer the question completely. Your answer should contain these four steps (Situation, Task, Action, Result or "STAR") for optimum success. http://web.mit.edu/career/www/guide/star.html

Situation: give an example of a situation you were involved in that resulted in a positive outcome

Task: describe the tasks involved in that situation

Action: talk about the various actions involved in the situation’s task

Results: what results directly followed because of your actions

Whenever you can, quantify your results. Numbers illustrate your level of authority and responsibility. For example: "I was a shift supervisor." could be "As Shift Supervisor, I trained and evaluated 4 employees."

Example of a STAR Answer

Situation: During my internship last summer, I was responsible for managing various events.

Task: I noticed that attendance at these events had dropped by 30% over the past 3 years and wanted to do something to improve these numbers.

Action: I designed a new promotional packet to go out to the local community businesses. I also included a rating sheet to collect feedback on our events and organized internal round table discussions to raise awareness of the issue with our employees.

Result: We utilized some of the wonderful ideas we received from the community, made our internal systems more efficient and visible and raised attendance by 18% the first year.

Behavioral Interview Example

Question: “Describe a situation where you have had to deal with a difficult person.”

Answer: “I was transferred to a new project at my previous company to replace a beloved member of the team. My new team leader exhibited hostility towards me and I found myself left out of vital communications and meetings. After a few weeks, I was able to talk her into a one on one meeting. When laid out all of the key objectives for the team, the previous employees role in meeting those objectives, and then discussed goals that I could set to make sure I was able to serve as a quality replacement. In our discussion, we also identified a few underlying issues with management that she had been carrying around with her. In uncovering all of these sentiments, she was able to clearly define her situation and achieve an understanding with her supervisors. In the end, the entire team morale improved, I was able to exceed my goals and the company itself became more profitable from our teams increased performance.”

Follow-up questions will test for consistency and determine if you exhibited the desired behavior in that situation:

"Can you give me an example?"

"What did you do?"

"What did you say?"

"What were you thinking?"

"How did you feel?

"What was your role?"

"What was the result?"

This sounds harder than it needs to be. Please take a deep breath. Now, let it out and realize that you have many experiences you can share. You just need to organize them. Then, you need to practice using a simple template like PAR.

PAR

PAR stands for Problem-Action-Results; in other words, first you state the problem that existed in your workplace, then you describe what you did about it, and finally you point out the beneficial results.

Here’s an example: “Transformed a disorganized, inefficient warehouse into a smooth-running operation by totally redesigning the layout; this saved the company thousands of dollars in recovered stock.”

Another example: “Improved an engineering company’s obsolete filing system by developing a simple but sophisticated functional-coding system. This saved time and money by recovering valuable, previously lost, project records.”

Tell us about a time that you had to work on a team that did not get along. What happened? What role did you take? What was the result? Based on that example, what would you do if your MBA study team members were not getting along with each other?

How do you resolve conflict on a team.

Tell me about a time when you experienced cultural conflict and how you handled it.

What role do you typically play in teams?

Tell me about a time when you contributed to a team.

What has been your most difficult teamwork experience?

Describe a situation in which you had to arrive at a compromise or help others to compromise. What was your role? What steps did you take? What was the end result?

Describe a team experience you found disappointing. What would you have done to prevent this?

Tell me about a time when you resolved a conflict in a group.

Tell us about the most difficult challenge you faced in trying to work cooperatively with someone who did not share the same ideas? What was your role in achieving the work objective?

What is the difficult part of being a member, not leader, of a team? How did you handle this?

When is the last time you had a disagreement with a peer? How did you resolve the situation?

Tell us about the most difficult or frustrating individual that you’ve ever had to work with, and how you managed to work with them.

Have you ever been a member of a group where two of the members did not work well together? What did you do to get them to do so?

What is the toughest group that you have had to get cooperation from? Describe how you handled it. What was the outcome?

Leadership

What is your leadership style? Give me an example of a time when you displayed that leadership style.

Tell me your definition of leadership and give an example.

Tell me about a time when you exercised leadership.

Tell me about a time when you took initiative.

Tell me about a time when you introduced an innovation.

Tell me about a time when you solved an important problem.

Tell me about a time when you took a position different from the consensus view of your team / organization.

How do you show leadership outside of your job?

What leadership areas do you wish do develop through your MBA experience? What specifically do you plan to do at School X to develop in these ways?

Describe your leadership style and give an example of a situation when you successfully led a group.

Have you ever been in a position where you had to lead a group of peers? How did you handle it?

Give an example of a time in which you felt you were able to build motivation in your co-workers or subordinates at work.

Accomplishments

What is your greatest accomplishment?

What impact have your accomplishments had on your organization?

Failure

Have you ever failed?

How did you recover from this experience & what did you learn about yourself?

When have you faced a setback and how did you deal with it?

What has been your major work related disappointment? What happened and what did you do?

Ethics / Integrity

Discuss an ethical dilemma you faced at work.

Describe a situation where your values, ethics, or morals were challenged. How did you handle the situation? What did you learn about yourself?

VINCE'S NOTE: Some clients have asked me to show a "best case example" / role model answer in the class. Since I cannot always guarantee that one of the four class participants will already be an "interview master", I suggest you watch this video of one of my past clients who aced his Kellogg interview.

Q: HOW CAN I ASK GOOD QUESTIONS AT THE END OF MY INTERVIEW?

A: TWO WAYS.

FIRST, PREPARE TWO OR THREE QUESTIONS AHEAD OF TIME THAT HIGHLIGHT YOUR STRENGTHS AND RELATE TO YOUR GOALS.

SECOND, KEEP YOUR MIND OPEN FOR INSPIRATION. IF YOUR INTERVIEWER SAYS SOMETHING DURING THE INTERVIEW THAT INTERESTS YOU, ASK FOR MORE INFORMATION.

The last 5-10% of every interview is perhaps the most important. You need to leave a strong final impression by asking good questions.

Your interviewer may ask

Do you have any questions for me?

What else can I tell you about School X?

TIP: be ready to ask at least 3 questions to confirm your belief that "school x" is your best match.

Nearly every interviewer gives you the chance to ask questions. If you fail to ask good questions, they will assume you are not very interested in attending their school. Think about it. MBA is going to be one of the biggest investments you will ever make. If you were buying a car or a house, wouldn't you have LOTS of questions to ask before making such an important purchase?

Questions for Adcom (professional staff, either at an off-campus "hub" interview location or on-campus)

Questions for Current Student (adcom volunteer on campus)

Questions for Alumni Interviewer (in your home country)

1. Ask about trends that affect your goals. For example, a client recently asked adcoms to confirm a rumor he heard that the school would open a new program on another continent. Since my client's long-term goals involve expanding to that market, he could ask about while reinforcing his future vision.

1. In general, you want to know her advice (based on her current / recent experience as a student at your "dream school).

1. You want to ask alumni for advice based on their experience before, during, and after attending your "dream school".

2. Ask questions about the school's future plans / mission / direction (but be sure to ask in the context of your goals).

2. What surprised you most after enrolling in School X? (In other words, how have your perceptions changed as you moved from applicant to student?)

2. How did attending School X affect your career?

3. Ask how the school is related to the alumni community in your city / country. Ask about ways the want alumni to be more active (if you can show your potential contributions).

3. Why did you chose this school?

3. How have you leveraged School X' alumni network in your professional (and/or personal) life?

4. If you know your interviewer's name before meeting her, use Google, LinkedIn, etc. to find out if the interviewer herself is an alumna of the school. If so, you can ask some "alumni-type" questions since she has a dual perspective (former student; current staff member).

4. What has been your most valuable academic experience, and why?

4. What surprised you most after enrolling at School X?

5.Ask if there are ways to contribute case studies or other curricula (based on your experience).

5. What has been your most valuable non-academic (club, experiential learning) experience?

During every business-school admissions interview, there's a moment where the tables turn. Usually, it's near the end, after you've been probed ("What sets you apart?") and prodded ("How was the workforce?"), and you're ready to head home. "So," the questioner chirps, "do you have anything to ask me?"

This is, of course, an optional request. But it's also an opportunity to make an impression, or blow your chances, says Randall Sawyer, director of admissions at Cornell University's Johnson School of Business. "You have to be prepared," says Sawyer. While asking smart, informed questions can set you apart, soliciting information that's readily available on a school's Web site ("What's your class size?") might irritate your interviewer.

What constitutes a "good" question? BusinessWeek recently spoke with several private consultants and deans of admission, all of whom recommended a variety of questions. Following are a selection, and some tips on how to ask them. And remember, these are general guidelines; the most impressive inquiries are case-specific.

What to ask deans, board members, and other officials:

In your opinion, what really sets this school apart?

Officials know this is an important inquiry, especially if you're choosing between multiple schools. To win points, Sawyer suggests prefacing your question with some original thought (e.g., "I've read that Professor X just received the Nobel prize" or "As an entrepreneur, I was impressed with your 'Fund My StartUp Program"). Otherwise, you may get the retort: "Well, what do you think sets this school apart?"

Can you talk a little about the student job search?

When you're about to drop $100,000-plus on an MBA, you're entitled to ask about career prospects, especially during the current financial crisis. But tread carefully, says Chioma Isiadinso, the CEO of Expartus, an admissions consulting company. Putting an official on the spot ("Can your school find me a job?") is awkward and offputting. Before you broach the subject, show enthusiasm ("I've heard great things about your alumni network") and emphasize that you're willing to be proactive.

For students, current and former:

How have you most benefitted from attending this school?

This question is crucial, especially if the interviewer pursued your concentration. According to Sawyer, it shows that you're "in the game, and interested in success." Be careful with phrasing, though: "How have you most benefitted?" is much more engaging (and much less skeptical) than "Have you benefitted?"

What was your favorite class? Who were your favorite professors?

O.K., these two are pretty obvious. But they're still good bets, says Dawna Clark, director of admissions at Tuck School of Business. Students (and former students) love to impart wisdom, especially with like-minded interviewees. Give them time to shine, and everyone wins: They'll get to relive a positive academic experience, and you'll pick up some inside information.

What's a typical day like?

Beyond engaging your interviewer, this question shows you care about more than academic factoids, says Linda Abraham, president of Accepted.com, an online hub for college counseling. After all, you're applying for an experience. It's only human to care about the little things, like when and where you'll eat, sleep, learn, and let loose.

For anyone:

Is there anything else I can further address?

This should be your final question, says Beth Flye, the assistant dean and director of admissions at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management. It's proactive, it's accommodating, and it's a great way to hint that you're eager to attend (as opposed to, say, asking when you'll get your acceptance letter). Also, on the off-chance that you made a mistake on your application, this request could spawn a shot at redemption.

Interviewers often ask how you plan to contribute to their MBA program. Most of you will claim you have "passion" for this particular MBA program. Talk is cheap. The only way to demonstrate true passion is to do your homework. Actions speak louder than words. Have you contacted alumni and current students? It is not too late!

Q: WHY DO THEY ASK THIS QUESTION?

A: TO SEE CHECK YOUR "FIT" WITH THEIR SCHOOL

Q: WHAT IS FIT?

A: YOUR ABILITY TO BENEFIT FROM AND ADD TO EACH SCHOOL'S UNIQUE STUDENT CULTURE

To quote Lou Gerstner, “Culture isn’t just one aspect of the game - it is the game”. Read more about "fit" here